An Increase in the Number of Women Paying Alimony to Men: How Much is Too Much?

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An Increase in the Number of Women Paying Alimony to Men: How Much is Too Much?

By
Roscich & Martell Law Firm, LLC
|April 05, 2014

In an
article recently published in the
Chicago Tribune, the United States in the last few years has seen a significant increase
in the number of women who are paying alimony (also known as “maintenance”)
to their ex-husbands. The changes reflect a gender-neutral interpretation
of laws regarding
spousal support and the trend of many women being the breadwinners within the family while
the men are taking on more supportive, domestic roles within the household.

Factors Evaluated in Spousal Maintenance Calculation According to the
Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act,
spousal support or maintenance
is determined at the time of the dissolution of the marriage. At this
time, the court takes into consideration a variety of factors, and the
weighing of these factors ultimately leads to the calculation of the support
to be given to one spouse from the other. The following are some of the
factors that are evaluated:

The marital and non-marital property owned by each spouse and the amount
that each spouse receives after the marital property has been divided;

The earning capacity of each spouse, present and future, taking into consideration
each party's contribution to the home if one of the spouses is responsible
for the domestic affairs of the household;

The age and any physical or mental impairment or disability of each individual,
which requires certain financial needs and affects the earning capacity
of the individual;

The duration of and quality of life of the marriage; and

Any other factor that the Court should take into consideration so that
the maintenance is just and equitable.

Factors to Evaluate When Modifying or Terminating Spousal Support Payments
Though it is up to the Court and its calculations for how much spousal
support an individual should receive, this award amount is not set in
stone. The Court may be able to take into consideration changes in circumstances
that would affect the amount of spousal support that the party should
be receiving or if the party should have their spousal support terminated
altogether. According to
Section 510
of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act, there are several
factors that would substantially change the circumstance of the receiving
party's needs, and therefore a modification or termination of spousal
support could be requested. The following are some of the factors that
may be considered:

Any change in the earning capacity (for example, a change in the employment
status) of the individual;

Whether the party has become self-supporting;

The party's physical or mental impairment has been cured or improved
on and requires less financial need;

Whether the party is now deceased and therefore no longer needs spousal
support; and/or

The receiving party is cohabitating with or remarried to another person
and therefore no longer requires the support.

Determining that there should be a modification or termination of the
alimony payments may be difficult to prove as one has to prove that there
has been a “substantial” change in circumstances. Solid evidence
may be crucial to showing that there should be a modification or termination
of the spousal support because there has been a substantial change. Showing
that the spouse has received a promotion, recently has inherited a significant
amount of money, or showing that the spouse is cohabiting on a “continuing,
conjugal basis” may be the type of evidence to satisfy the threshold.
If you are looking to modify or terminate your spousal support payments
because you believe that your ex-spouse's circumstances have changed,
please contact one of our experienced, Naperville attorneys who will be
able to guide you through the process. Please
contact us today for further information on child or spousal support.

The information on this website is for general information purposes only.
Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual
case or situation. This information is not intended to create, and receipt
or viewing does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.